Shannon Hart

School of Education
The College of New Jersey
October 23, 2014

Writing: The Little Scarecrow Boy

This lessons main focus is to teach students about using what they learned from a book to
write speech bubbles.
1. Grade: Kindergarten
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): How can you express characters feelings?
3. Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.8
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or
gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
4. Objectives:
5. Assessment:
Objectives

Assessment

Students will be able to write speech

bubbles about a book that has been read
aloud.

Students will write how the scarecrow boy felt

at a point in the story using speech bubbles.

6. Materials: The Little Scarecrow Boy, speech bubble paper, pencils, feelings posters
7. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: Students have been learning to write
for several weeks. Students have been practicing letter sounds and learning to stretch
words to hear the letter sounds. They have been focusing on writing stories about their
own lives and experiences. So far, they have learned to leave finger spaces between
words and use capital letters at the beginning of their sentences. Students have been
introduced to speech bubbles as a way to enhance their writing. Students were also
introduced to scarecrows earlier in the week when they made a craft.

8. Lesson Beginning: The lesson will begin with a read-aloud of The Little Scarecrow Boy.
The teacher will ask students throughout the read-aloud about what students think the
scarecrow boy is feeling.
9. Instructional Plan:

The class will be called to the carpet, one table at a time.

The teacher will read The Little Scarecrow Boy to the class.
The teacher will ask students throughout the read-aloud about what students think the
scarecrow boy is feeling.
After the read-aloud, the class will discuss what the scarecrow boy was feeling at
different points in the story.
The teacher will tell students that they will choose one point in the story and write a
speech bubble for the scarecrows that they made earlier in the week. The scarecrows
will represent the scarecrow from the book, and students will write their speech
bubble as if the little scarecrow boy is talking about his feelings.
The teacher will put up posters of different feelings to show examples of what
students may want to write about.
The teacher will model the assignment for the class.
The teacher will instruct students to turn to a partner and share what they plan to
write.
Students will be called back to their seats one table at a time to complete the
assignment.
The teacher will circulate the room to talk with students about their ideas.
When students are finished, a few volunteers will share their writing with the class.
Students will also discuss why speech bubbles are helpful for writing.
The speech bubbles will be displayed in the hallway with the scarecrow craft that
students completed earlier in the week.

o Differentiation: The teacher will model the writing activity for the class. The teacher
will put up posters of feelings to help students to come up with an idea. Students will
work in pairs and as a class to brainstorm ideas for the activity. Since students have
varying writing abilities, students will be encouraged to work on something that they
struggle with, such as spelling, spaces between words, or making full sentences. In
addition, more advanced students can choose to write more specific information on their
speech bubble. For example, students could also include when the scarecrow had the
feeling they talked about.
o Questions:

What are feelings?

What are some examples of feelings?

How did the scarecrow boy feel at the beginning of the story?

How did the scarecrow boy feel at the end of the story?

o Classroom Management: Students will be sitting at the carpet where the teacher can
move students who may be disruptive when sitting next to others. Materials will be
distributed and collected by the teacher in order to avoid excess movement and
distractions. Students will move to and from the carpet one table at a time. When
students move to their tables, they will be instructed to work quietly. If students seem to
be unfocused or tired, the teacher will have them get up and stretch for thirty seconds
before resuming the lesson. At the beginning of the lesson, the students will be reminded
to raise their hand if they have a question, answer, or something to say. If students
become loud, they will be reminded to lower their volume. If necessary, give me five
or if you can hear me touch your will be used to get the students attention and
redirect them back to the activity.
o Transitions: In order to transition between activities, the teacher will give clear
instructions for the activity before instructing students where to go. The teacher will
model how to complete the writing activity before sending students back to their tables.
When the whole class has finished the activity, a few students will share their work with
the class.
10. Closure: At the conclusion of the lesson, some students will share their work with the
class. The class will also discuss why speech bubbles are helpful. The assignment will
also be displayed in the hallway in order for students to share their work with others. The
knowledge and skills that the students will take away from this lesson will help them to
improve as writers.